An inauguration first: Apps

The presidential inauguration? There’s an app for that. In fact, there are two.

The key committees producing President Barack Obama’s second inauguration and its related activities plan to release on Monday morning the next logical tech innovation: apps for the iPhone and Android that provide a range of information, guidance and content for the event.

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The 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee, the private group responsible for the inaugural parade and balls, has put together an app that allows users to post remarks and photos to their Facebook and Twitter feeds, as well as to figure out where to go to watch the ceremony and the procession. It is also designed to guide users with tickets to their entry points. People elsewhere in the world can use it to watch a livestream of the festivities.

One point of pride for the app’s developers is that the maps — which also point out such useful sites as public toilets — will work regardless of whether the mobile device can pick up a signal. That’s an important feature because cell networks can be dodgy when too many people are using their phones at crowded events.

“This is the first official smartphone app built for a presidential inauguration,” said Nate Lubin, the PIC’s digital director. “We wanted to build a tool that will enable us to reach new people in new ways. This app does just that.”

The app also provides a way for people around the nation to find volunteer opportunities at local causes near them so they may participate in the National Day of Service on Sunday. The Obamas, as they did in 2009, are exhorting the public to commemorate both the inauguration and the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday by doing some charity work.

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, the group assigned to oversee the details of the actual swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol, is also launching its app on Monday. In its case, though, it is actually a mobile website that behaves like an app. It features live streaming only of the ceremony as well as maps for ticketholders and nonticketholders, information on what not to bring and links to the Twitter feed of the Secret Service.

The JCCIC’s mobile app — which won’t work if Internet access is curtailed by excess demand — is due to go live around 10 a.m. as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the committee chairman, unveils it at a press event at the Capitol. It will be available at www.inaugural.senate.gov.

"For the first time ever, a mobile Web app will help anyone on Inauguration Day figure out the best route from the Metro stations right to their ticketed area,” Schumer said in a statement. “These tickets and this new site are a big part of our efforts to make sure these ceremonies are safe and enjoyable for everyone who attends.”

The PIC app also provides behind-the-scenes videos, including one that indicates that 147 horses will appear in the Inaugural parade. No telling how many bayonets might be present.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 5:02 a.m. on January 14, 2013.